New DM Recommendations

[ZeroPresence]

Hey all,

I'll be DMing our new dungeon with a group of my good friends. Any tips, tricks, and such? This group LOVES to OP their character as much as they can. I'm going to allow them to do so, but I warned them I'd beef up their encounters if it got out of control.

I am also in need of a good Dungeon. Which book do you guys recommend?

Much appreciated, and all responses are welcome. Thanks.

[Captnq]

A PLAYER'S EARS ARE IN HIS BACK, AND HE HEARS BEST WHEN HE IS BEATEN.

Ahem. I love that quote.

SPAM:

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)The d20 system expanded way beyond anything anyone was expecting. If you include the 3rd party stuff, you can do just about anything. Want to play a super hero? They got that. Want to play a cat? They got that too. Even if you stick with the stuff that was “official D&D”, whatever that might be, you’ve got close to a hundred books and supplements. Even if you discard everything but the player’s handbook, you got a few hundred pages to read.

Then, if you want some background, depending on your campaign setting, you might have a few dozen books to read. There are 22 Eberron books alone. 73 Forgotten Realms books. If you got an old timer like myself, who uses 1st and 2nd edition Forgotten Realms material for the setting, you can add another 143 books. Let’s not even go into the web enhancements.

This is not a closed circuit of rules like Checkers. This is the most massive rule set ever. Here there be Dragons.

2) The game is so simple as to defy explanation.

Here's the game from a DM's point of view.:
If something would automatically fail, it fails.
If something would automatically succeed, it succeeds
If there is a slight chance of failure, Roll 1d20. On a 1 it fails.
If there is a slight chance of success, Roll 1d20. On a 20 it succeeds.
If it lands somewhere between 10% success to 90% success, figure out what chance it has to succeed, pick a number 2 to 19, roll the bones and get your number or higher.

All those other dice? 95% of the time you can just pick the averages. Adjust them slightly to give the illusion of randomness, but really, the other dice don't matter 95% of the time. The average result is usually good enough.

3) A DM has to create the ILLUSION that he's impartial and fair. That he's playing by the rules, but the thing is, the players have no way to figure that out. So we have Hundreds of rulebooks, and we look at them. And we make faces. And we pay attention to the players who has memorized this section of the rule book. But in the end, if the players believe in you, all you need is one d20 and a whole lot a chutzpah.

What does this have to do with running? TIME MANAGEMENT.

You need to know the nature of the game. It's TRUE nature. You need to strip away everything that is holding you back. Rules will only slow you down. Yes, read those rules. Try to follow the rules, but if figuring out the rules gets in the way, if they slow you down, if they take more then 60 seconds to figure them out, SCREW IT.

Estimate in your head the chance of success
Write down your estimation.
If your estimation comes up again, reuse it.
If there are variables, adjust it.

Look at each combat as an entire new universe. If they only have a chance of hitting the target on a 36 AC, fine. Jot that down. Didn't figure out exactly what his touch attack, or flatfoot is? Eyeball it IF IT COMES UP IN PLAY.

Then, once you've worked out the fine art of Subjective Dungeon Mastering and Relative Difficulty Calculation (SDMARD), all else will fall away. Combat will speed up on your end.

Speed it up on the players end by a few techniques:

1) Roll initiative once. Make everyone move to sit in order of initiative. Then the fastest guy rolls for the group. Either the party goes first, or the NPCs do. Is it RAW? No. But you are running for 10+ people, they need to suck it.

2) Tell the players they have the whole time everyone else is going to come up with something. Combat is now rapid fire. When you point at someone, they go. If they go, "Ummm..." Hold up your hand and start taking down fingers. 5,4,3,2,1... "Ennnht" The buzzer sounds, "You lost your action." Point to the next person. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! People will learn to start talking and explaining. Don't cut people off, just don't allow book referencing, power confirming, or what have you. They don't know what a fireball does? Well, the wizard doesn't have his spell component ready.

3) Encourage people to make combat sheets. Sheets for nothing but combat. When it's time for combat, sheets at the ready! Soon as you lose your actions a few times, you'll figure out how to move faster.

4) Be just as hard on the NPCs. Boom Boom Boom Boom. Give yourself some "wiggle" room. Hey, this is a BBEG, he's going to have some tricks. But this Mook? Roll a d20. on a 20 he's got a flask of some nasty crap. What was is? Dunno. Are you going to let it hit you in the face to fine out? Well, I guess it was a delayed fireball in a flask of quintessence. BOOM. Maybe he throws it at the wrong target, but that’s how real life is.

5) Work out the treasure ahead of time, since you actually have to hand that over to the players. Or use Crystal Ball’s random treasure generator. (some day I will finish my upgrade of their files and have a TRUE and COMPLETE all RAW 3.0/3.5 magic item generator! Some day...) But feel free to outfit the NPCs with extra Expendable equipment on a whim. Someone used Oil of magical Weapon +5. Someone has blister oil for extra damage. Etc etc etc.

6) READ. READ A WHOLE LOT. You don't need to know the rules, you just need to be able to pull something out of your ass at the last second if a Player calls shenanigans. My handbooks will help.

7) ROLL LOTS OF DICE AND LOOK PENSIVE. You must always be inscrutable while DMing. The rest of the time, feel free to be scrutable. But while you are DMing you must maintain an aura of Fear and Enigma. The players must always worry that you have planned something. They must think you are twelve steps ahead of everything they do. They must believe you are a master of Xanatos Speed Chess.

This belief, especially if you don't give them time to think, will create a better playing environment for the players. They will think you are a God toying with them, when in reality you are three sheets to the wind and making it all up as you go along.

But that's doesn't matter. You smile and say, "Aha! I planned for this! Then pause to bring up a file and say, "Just a moment. Searching my hard drive. Ah, here is it. I keep it in a folder marked 'Players' Worst Nightmares" Meanwhile you are frantically reloading the random monster generator on Monsteradvancer.com

Find a mirror. Practice an evil sneer.

8) Then lose. Lose while pulling out your hair. Groan and demand to see the player's sheet. Frantically scour it looking for proof of the player's claim. mutter, "So many players, I forgot you could do that." Thrust it back at him. Hunch over your notes and scrunch up your lips, making them migrate randomly around your face. Finally throw your hand up and say, "FINE. All this work and THAT's how he dies? *sigh* look defeated. Describe the death of the NPC you spent months, nay, YEARS custom creating just to watch him DIE in 3 rounds of combat! My DREAMS of MURDERING ALL OF YOU. Dashed.... to pieces. *sob*

And while they are all High Fiving one another, "YEAH! BAD Guy went DOWN!" You let out a sigh that another successful evening was had, and encourage them to RP among themselves while you adlib a new horror for them to handle.

You shouldn’t do that too often, but everyone needs to fake it every once in a while.

Have fun.

[BrokenChord]

Finally, somebody else who understands why DMing can be easier than playing. If I had a functional heart I would love you, Captnq. For now, I hope a virtual fist bump will suffice.

... Captnq's post pretty much summarized everything I had to say. I'll add that the best way to influence how much players like or hate an NPC is to toy with their "hard-earned" lewtz. Somebody who messes with their stuff is pretty much the worst enemy they can have, even if the stuff was rather worthless. Unless you're counting people who can be used as a resource as stuff; there's an unwritten rule among players to not care about any character for their positive qualities.

Occasionally they will like an intended one-liner NPC for some random quirk or just being a baller, sometimes they'll like the villain because hey, evil is cool bro.

Beyond that, though, having somebody make them cool stuff for free generally gets him on their "protect at all costs" list, and having somebody take or break their stuff makes them more hated than you could ever hope to make even the Paladin hate the BBEG who eats babies and sells puppies into slavery and stuff.

[ZeroPresence]

Thank you both. That definitely helps give me a better understanding.

Do you have any recommendations for a good quest book? I don't want to have them start at level 1, but maybe somewhere around level 5.

[Zubrowka74]

I will vouch for Captnq. His description is what I always aim for when I DM. I only fudge if it's necessary though. If the PCs deserve the TPK, it will happen.